Sawyer '14 - Seed Offer

capsidadburn · Jan 5, 2014

Nothing wrong with the T12's except the power draw. I see you've got a stash of bulbs. I've got a couple units I still use too. Will definately have to convert to the new T5's next season.

Looks like your ready for business!

Mike

HillBilly Jeff · Jan 5, 2014

Nice looking stand. 12s are fine, as long as you got em, might as well use them.

ronniedeb · Jan 6, 2014

Best of luck for the season Sawyer!

Sawyer · Jan 6, 2014

Trippa said:
Very impressive list ... Hope the new year ahead is a great one ... Cheers trippa

Thanks, Trippa. Hope yours is a good one, too. Hope you get a handle on those mites. I'm battling aphids on my OWs right now.

Devv said:
Nothing wrong with that germ bench, what works, works!

Yep, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. At least that was my perspective until Mike prompted me to do some research. Now I'm not so sure.

capsidadburn said:
Nothing wrong with the T12's except the power draw. I see you've got a stash of bulbs. I've got a couple units I still use too. Will definately have to convert to the new T5's next season.

Looks like your ready for business!

Mike

Now that's something I hadn't given due consideration, power draw. After looking into it a little, T8s do provide a significant improvement in terms of lumens per watt. T5s, too, but they don't seem to be as readily available yet and are considerably more expensive. I could convert T12 to T8, but for the price of a ballast, I can buy a whole new T8 shop light. I also found T8s, like T12s, have peak output at around 77ºF, while T5s peak at 95ºF.

Regarding that stash of bulbs, I think most of those are already burned out. I have some others elsewhere, as well as some unopened T12 shop light fixtures from way back, but I'm thinking it may be time to start installing T8s, as I find the fixtures on sale ($10.99 at the local True Value right now).

Also thinking of getting a Kill-A-Watt to directly measure power consumption of my various fixtures.

HillBilly Jeff said:
Nice looking stand. 12s are fine, as long as you got em, might as well use them.

Thanks, Jeff. They do work, but the idea of reducing my power consumption with T8s is an attractive one. Not only would I save on my electric bill, but I already get too much attention from the local sheriff's department. Twice now they've made up some story ("looking for a previous tenant" once, when I had a bunch of plants in flats out front catching some sun, and "chasing a fugitive" another time, when they tore a hole in my row cover because I'm just sure the fugitive might have been hiding under there) to justify coming on my place to look around. I don't have anything to hide; I just don't like the hassle, or the tearing of holes in my isolation tents.

ronniedeb said:
Best of luck for the season Sawyer!

Thanks, Ronan. Likewise to you!

So now I'm seriously considering replacing some, if not all, of my T12 fixtures (6 total) with T8s. I'm going to crunch some numbers and come back here to post the results in a little while. Another consideration I have is that I can still make use of the old T12 fixtures. For one thing I could string up 3 or 4 of them in the root cellar so the OWs down there wouldn't be in total dark, but I think that's moot now. (More about that in a moment) Mainly though, I've been looking for a support for some strip LED lights I want to install on the secondary growth station. I had been looking at 1/16" 1/2"x1/2" aluminum angle, but could just as easily use the back cover off the T12 fixtures. I have some red and blue LED strips that very closely match the absorption peaks of chlorophyll b. Need to crunch some numbers on this project, too. Stay tuned.

I hope everyone is weathering the cold weather well. It's around 0ºF here, much warmer than you folks up north, but cold enough that my pipes have frozen. This is the first time in 16 years this has happened. I didn't even think about leaving the taps dripping until it was too late. The furnace is under the house in the root cellar and the duct work is somewhat leaky. I've always relied on that to keep things warm enough down there to prevent the pipes from freezing. And with the furnace running at about a 65%-75% duty cycle right now, I really didn't think I had anything to worry about. Time to dig out the tank-top propane burner and tank.

I haven't looked, but I think it's a pretty sure thing all the OWs down there are history now. Well, nothing is irreplaceable, though all of my multi-year plants are down there.

JJJessee · Jan 6, 2014

Stay warm, Saw. Temps are headed for 0° tonight here too -not all that rare, but it doesn't happen every winter.

Devv · Jan 6, 2014

Sure is gonna be a cold night for most of us. No matter where we live it's going way down below what we normally see.

John, this is a video link my Dad emailed me, thought it was a bit over the top....but I'm sure the local PD is weed hunting..jerks!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/8JNFr_j6kdI

If they really looked at that info they would be at my place all the time..LOL

Stay warm!

maximumcapsicum · Jan 6, 2014

Awesome glog Sawyer! Grow station looks fantastic for something that's been in use for over a decade. Can't wait to see some hooks coming out of it.

Your grow list is staggering. How many plants do you think you're going for?

JJJessee · Jan 6, 2014

Devv said:
,,,,
John, this is a video link my Dad emailed me, thought it was a bit over the top....but I'm sure the local PD is weed hunting..jerks!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/8JNFr_j6kdI

....

GULP!

Sawyer · Jan 6, 2014

JJJessee said:
Stay warm, Saw. Temps are headed for 0° tonight here too -not all that rare, but it doesn't happen every winter.

You too, JJJ. I'm doing alright at the moment. I normally keep the thermostat set below 60, but have turned it up hoping the extra heat loss into the root cellar/crawl space will help thaw the pipes. No luck yet, but it's plenty warm up here in the house now. (Not going to be pleased with the next gas bill, though.) Access is via an exterior doorway down some steps and that door is frozen solid at the bottom in the roughly 2" of water that was standing in the basement from the last big rain. (New sump pump doesn't pump all the way to the floor.) I've got a 100 W incandescent (one of the last!) shining on it, hoping it'll thaw enough so I can get in there tomorrow. If not, I'll break out the propane torch.

Devv said:
Sure is gonna be a cold night for most of us. No matter where we live it's going way down below what we normally see.

John, this is a video link my Dad emailed me, thought it was a bit over the top....but I'm sure the local PD is weed hunting..jerks!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/8JNFr_j6kdI

If they really looked at that info they would be at my place all the time..LOL

Stay warm!

I've read about those smart meters. That video just pisses me off. He's right, though. True online double conversion whole-house UPS system with a load leveler installed between the meter and house would help. Better yet, just get off the grid entirely; that's my long-term goal.

maximumcapsicum said:
Awesome glog Sawyer! Grow station looks fantastic for something that's been in use for over a decade. Can't wait to see some hooks coming out of it.

Your grow list is staggering. How many plants do you think you're going for?

Thanks, Adam. Seems like every day something else keeps me from planting seeds. Got to get to it soon. I had hoped to grow 10 plants of every variety I grew last year and saved seed from. Purpose being to test how prevalent cross-pollination is in my garden. I'll probably back off to 5 plants on some of those and many of the new varieties. I've got 8 72-cell flats more-or-less ready to go, for a total of 576 cells. That's not enough unless I double up and put two seeds per cell. I'd do that anyway, but normally would thin out the weaker of the two if both seeds germinated. If I plant each block of six cells with one variety each, I can accommodate 96 varieties at a maximum of 12 plants each, which should be just about right once everything is said and done. So, long story short, I guess I'm going for more than 500, but fewer than 1000 plants. I had around 300 last year and easily have the space for three times that number. (Time and gumption to keep them all going is another matter altogether.)

JJJessee said:
GULP!

^^^What he said!^^^

Y'all keep warm...

maximumcapsicum · Jan 7, 2014

Amazing operation Sawyer. Sounds like you'll end up with hundreds of pods. I bet you got alot of good recipes, but what do you do with the surplus?

Interesting notes on cross pollination. Also a good way to see what kinds of traits you have floating around on your strains' genotypes. How do you keep track of it all?

Keep me posted! And bring on the pics!!!!

Sawyer · Jan 7, 2014

maximumcapsicum said:
Amazing operation Sawyer. Sounds like you'll end up with hundreds of pods. I bet you got alot of good recipes, but what do you do with the surplus?

Interesting notes on cross pollination. Also a good way to see what kinds of traits you have floating around on your strains' genotypes. How do you keep track of it all?

Keep me posted! And bring on the pics!!!!

Pics coming soon, Adam. Though it will be at least a few days before any seeds start popping. I hope to get an early start tomorrow on sowing.

I do have a few recipes that have worked out and more in my head to try. You can look back at the last few pages of my 2013 glog for more on that, three marmalades and one sauce, so far. Oh, and some pickled jalapeno rings, not mention purées based on Alabama Jack's recipe. The purées will serve as a base for future sauces. A lot of the harvest was seeded, dried and segregated according to variety. Those I'll make some powders out of, and hopefully get some tested to characterize (at least relative) heat levels. When things got frenzied there toward the end of the season, a lot of pods got dried, varieties all mixed together, unseeded, unstemmed and in some cases, unwashed. Those will be used in various forms of repellents and such for use in the coming year.

As far as keeping track of it all, spreadsheets, pen and paper, plastic labels, pretty much anything that doesn't rely on my memory. Stay tuned and you will see.

Well, it took all day, but I have water again. Pretty much everything that could freeze, did freeze, but thankfully nothing burst. After turning up the furnace yesterday (plus generally warmer conditions today), the pipes under the house thawed out about midday. About that time, the well pump started kicking on and off, on and off, over and over. I flipped the breaker. Then I tried three different sump pumps to find one that would work and finished pumping out the (liquid) standing water in the cellar that the primary pump wouldn't reach. It pumped into a length of garden hose and of course, that was frozen, too. Used a propane torch to melt the ice in it (without melting the hose itself). There was about 5" or 6" of standing water down below (from previous rain, not leaks or breaks), of which the top 1.5" to 2" was frozen. Had to use a crowbar to chip the ice away from the outside of the door, then push it open at the top enough to reach around inside and chip away the ice behind the door. Finally got it open. Used the torch on the well-pump housing (though that didn't seem to be a problem) and the piping between the pump and bladder tank. Finally figured out I was getting water (a trickle) from the pump to an in-cellar tap on the other side of the tank, so it seemed like the tank itself might be frozen, at least enough to defeat the bladder action. I place a 100W incandescent bulb pointed at the tank, about 10" away. Also occurred to me the well head (outside) might be frozen, so I pulled the insulation off it (it was seriously compacted and degraded) and used the torch on the pipes coming out of the well and the length accessible before they turned back down to go into the cellar. Positioned a 60W incandescent under the pipes against the top of the well casing and covered everything back up with fresh insulation taking care to keep flammable stuff away from the bulb... I hope; it's in a reflector lamp, so hopefully it will be alright. During this time I occasionally turned on the well pump to see what it would do. Eventually there was a "clunk" and it started running normally. Hurrah for hot showers!

I sure am glad we have such a wonderful technology as inexpensive incandescent bulbs readily available... oh, wait.

The OWs down in the cellar are a sad sight. There were a couple dozen pots on the floor, in standing water with an inch or two of ice frozen around the middle of the pots. I think it's safe to say, those are history. There are about thirty more up on shelves and they may have been high enough not to freeze. They look very dry, though. I'll give them a little water tomorrow.

JJJessee · Jan 7, 2014

Glad you got everything squared away, Saw.
Sorry about the plants.
Nature takes a toll
whenever it gets a chance.

maximumcapsicum · Jan 7, 2014

Sorry to hear about the OWs. Heartbreaking. Good excuse to start more plants though!

The purées and marmalades in your 2013 thread look pretty fantastic. I was toying with making a jalapeno jelly this year but ran out of jalapenos. Got to plant more of those guys.

Can't wait for the pics! And thanks for the info. Got to get a blender and a dehydrator.

Penny · Jan 8, 2014

Same here, sorry to hear about the plants, but that does mean you can start more now.....like you needed an excuse, right!!

PaulG · Jan 8, 2014

Wow, 5000 sq. ft. of garden space. Pretty deluxe, my friend!

Good luck getting going, John. The germ station will look great full of green!

The seeds you sent are doing great. The 7 Pot Burgundys are very robust.
The BJ Yellow, Reaper and Funky Reaper are all starting to accelerate
their growth now and should be great plants. Thanks, brother!

Sawyer · Jan 8, 2014

JJJessee said:
Glad you got everything squared away, Saw.
Sorry about the plants.
Nature takes a toll
whenever it gets a chance.

Well, it gave me an opportunity to check out the water system from wellhead to pressure tank. I take some comfort in knowing all that looks fine.
About the plants, I think it's "Nature's way of telling..." me I have too damn many plants!

maximumcapsicum said:
Sorry to hear about the OWs. Heartbreaking. Good excuse to start more plants though!

The purées and marmalades in your 2013 thread look pretty fantastic. I was toying with making a jalapeno jelly this year but ran out of jalapenos. Got to plant more of those guys.

Can't wait for the pics! And thanks for the info. Got to get a blender and a dehydrator.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I actually bought some jalapenos at the store to make the last batch of pickled rings. While the first batch was good, I wanted to tweak the recipe and didn't want to wait a whole year. I'll definitely be planting more jalapenos this year. "Pinata" (CPI) is good for the coloration it lends to the jar and "Early" is good for productivity. I don't think I'll grow "Cracked" again; the corking is not attractive in a jar. Stefan (meatfreak) is sending me some varieties that should be optimal for pickle rings, good heat, small cavity, fewer seeds.

My old blender has developed a hairline crack in the base where the blade shaft passes through and leaks enough liquid there to be annoying. I think I'll dedicate it to powders and buy a new one for liquids, though I have no idea yet what brand. A lot of people love to rag on Harbor Freight, and some of their stuff is crap, but I've had good luck with their dehydrators. On sale, wiith coupon, you can get one for less than $20. I have three and the first two performed well. The last one had a hot spot and melted a hole in the trays above it, but they exchanged it with no hassle whatsoever.

Penny said:
Same here, sorry to hear about the plants, but that does mean you can start more now.....like you needed an excuse, right!!

Twist my arm!

PaulG said:
Wow, 5000 sq. ft. of garden space. Pretty deluxe, my friend!

Good luck getting going, John. The germ station will look great full of green!

The seeds you sent are doing great. The 7 Pot Burgundys are very robust.
The BJ Yellow, Reaper and Funky Reaper are all starting to accelerate
their growth now and should be great plants. Thanks, brother!

Thanks, Paul. Glad to hear the babies are doing well. The Burgundy does seem to be a vigorous strain, at least that was my experience last year. I sent seed for that BJ Yellow to a few folks and am thinking of starting a variety-specific thread for it, so we can compare notes. Maybe Scott will start one for the Funky Reaper.

Penny · Jan 8, 2014

Guess what came today!!!!! The envelope showed up :dance:

Thank you so much for the trade....cant wait to plant them, I have my grandson for a few hours this afternoon while my daughter and son in law went snowboarding, so maybe tonight.

Again,....a huge thank you :party:

Sawyer · Jan 8, 2014

Glad to hear it, Penny, especially since I got yours so quickly. Three weeks from here to there? Better late than never!

maximumcapsicum · Jan 8, 2014

Thanks for all the info Sawyer! Gonna be a bit down the road before I really need to worry about processing any pods. Best canned product wa candied jalapeños last year. Looking forward to powders and purée bases got sauces this year. Gonna keep things pretty basic as I am still leaning the ropes.

Devv · Jan 8, 2014

Sorry to hear about the woes with the well and cold weather John!

Hopefully you're now warming up.